Career Advice From Four Successful Women.

Jessica Kleiman: “I find that good advice is needed at every juncture of one’s career — whether just starting out or having climbed up the proverbial ladder of success. Having co-written a book of career advice, Be Your Own Best Publicist: How to Use PR Techniques to Get Noticed, Hired and Rewarded at Work, I not only love hearing it but also sharing it with others. This morning, I attended a cross-generational panel discussion called Risks, Rewards, Real Talk: Getting Ahead On Your Own Terms, hosted by New York Women in Communications (NYWICI), an amazing organization on whose board I sit (in an unpaid position). The first in a series on women in the workplace, the panel featured some incredibly smart and talented women representing multiple career stages–and ages.

Moderated by Today Show contributor and personal finance expert Jean Chatzky, participants included Dustee Jenkins, VP, public relations for Target; Jeannine Shao Collins, chief innovation officer of Meredith 360; and two of my former bosses and longtime mentors, Debra Shriver, chief communications officer of Hearst Corporation and Cathie Black, former Hearst Magazines president. Even though I worked with both of these women for more than a decade, I still gleaned new wisdom from them, as well as from the other panelists. Below are some of the best bite-sized pieces of advice I heard at this event. So good, and (mostly) Tweetable!

From Debra Shriver:

1. You learn as much from doing things wrong as doing things right.
2. If you’re engaged in work, you should be engaged in life too. It’s important to have a 360-degree life.
3. Bring your A-game. Be engaged. Be proactive.
4. Some days I lean in so much I need to lie down.

From Cathie Black:

1. There’s no such thing as the perfect workplace.
2. Women have a terminal case of gratitude.
3. Be honest and direct. Don’t go to a meeting and sit in the corner. You’re not a guest. Be a participant.
4. Telling your boss you need more money is not enough. It’s not their problem. Instead, have a thoughtful discussion about how you’ve done the job well and then you might get a raise.
5. You always have to be willing to reinvent yourself.
6. If you get a job offer and you have to talk to 10 people about whether to take it, there’s your answer. It should just feel right. It should feel like home.

From Dustee Jenkins:

1. Key to being successful is stopping, pausing and making yourself accountable.
2. When you go into a new organization or start a new job, you come in with a fresh pair of eyes. You’ll see things that you won’t see a month from then so write everything down. You may not get to it right away but you’ll remember.
3. Celebrate your failures. You need to talk about failure and what you learn from it — not just success — in order to be better at your job.

From Jeannine Shao Collins:

1. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Check your ego at the door.
2. Ninety percent of life is showing up.
3. If you’re a proven performer — male or female — people will respect you.
4. Try to minimize the a**holes in your life and career.
5. The key to innovation is collaboration. If you have a great idea, you can’t hold onto it — you need to share it with others.